The Hive · 2016–2024
Entrepreneurship
The Hive Eco Store was Malaysia’s first zero-waste store, and grew into a pioneer of zero-waste retail in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
01 What she built
- Malaysia’s first zero-waste store · The Hive Eco Store, Bangsar, 2016
- One store grown to six across Kuala Lumpur before Covid
- Singapore expansion, 2021
- The pivot: e-commerce and wholesale distribution
- Retail distribution into Watsons, Village Grocer, Ben’s Independent Grocer, Jaya Grocer and QRA
- 120+ zero-waste SKUs
- Partnership work with UNHCR: co-produced products
The Hive was always more than a store: a platform for changing consumer behaviour, promoting sustainable living, and educating people to reduce waste, one refill at a time.
02 The award
Recipient of the UN Award 2017, one of three national recipients.
03 The lessons
Covid changed retail, and Claire changed the model: Singapore in 2021, then e-commerce and wholesale distribution, then the classroom, lecturing from 2022. In 2024 she closed the last store with suppliers paid and the story intact. As a founder, Claire can tell you what eight years of mission-driven retail actually costs, and why she would still tell you to build.
Ask about the story.